Indian merchant ship stranded in China set to return home

The Indian merchant ship MV Jag Anand, stuck in China with 23 Indian seafarers on board, is all set to return home, said the government on Saturday.

"Our seafarers stuck in China are coming back to India! Ship MV Jag Anand, having 23 Indian crews, stuck in China, is set to sail toward Chiba, Japan to carry out crew change, will reach India on 14th January. This could only happen due to strong leadership of PM Narendra Modi," said Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping & Waterways (I/C).

He added, "I deeply appreciate the humanitarian approach of the Great Eastern Shipping Company towards the seafarers and standing by them in this crucial time!"

The Indian merchant ship Jag Anand, belonging to a Mumbai-based company Great Eastern Shipping Limited, was stuck at China's northern 'Jingtank' port since June.

23 Indian crew members are stuck on the ship and living in unpleasant conditions. Many crew members are suffering from health issues and running short of medicines with each passing day.

The crew of the ship earlier contacted ANI and gave brief details of their current situation on the condition of anonymity.

"We boarded the ship in January. Currently, we are loaded with around 1.70 lakh tons of Australian coal. This ship was chartered by a private entity. We left from Australia in May and arrived at the Jingtang port in China by June 13 and for five months we are here stuck at the Chinese port with no updates," a crew member from the Jag Anand ship told ANI over the phone.

"We are 23 Indian crew members on board and living in a very unpleasant situation. We want to return to our homeland. Chinese port administration is not allowing us to unload our cargo here and they are not giving a reason either. We informed our company about the situation and they are trying to set up communication through diplomatic channels," he added.